The MexicoBlog of the CIP Americas Program monitors and analyzes international press on Mexico with a focus on the US-backed War on Drugs in Mexico and the struggle in Mexico to strengthen the rule of law, justice and protection of human rights. Relevant political developments in both countries are also covered.

Mar 19, 2012

Drug War Violence: 11 policemen die in an attack in Guerrero

CNN Mexico: "Gunmen ambushed a group of the State Preventive Police ... and killed 11 policemen and wounded another 14 in the municipality of Acapetlahuaya, located in the "hot country" (coastal) region of Guerrero, in southern Mexico. They were killed in an area where, hours earlier, 10 human heads had been found with a message from a criminal group, according to the Ministry of Public Security (SSP).

The confrontation lasted just over half an hour. Among the injured were state and municipal police, but no attackers. Soldiers and federal, state and municipal police cordoned off the area of confrontation. There were hundreds of shell casings from AK-47 assault rifles, AR-15's, two grenades and four vehicles .

Hours before this confrontation, and in the same area, 10 human heads were found , those of three women and seven men in the municipality of Teloloapan, in northern Guerrero. So far no bodies have been found, said government spokesman for Guerrero, Arturo Martínez Núñez.

Since 2008, Guerrero has recorded an increase in the number of executions by organized crime groups. Guerrero's territory is disputed by the Sinaloa cartel, the South Pacific cartel, and the Independent Cartel of Acapulco. Acapulco is considered one of the five most violent cities in the world, according to a study presented in January this year by the Citizens Council on Public Safety and Criminal Justice." Spanish original